Wise Chat

Description

Wise Chat is a chat plugin that helps to build a social network and to increase user engagement of your website by providing possibility to exchange real time messages in chat rooms. The plugin is easy installable and extremely configurable. It also has a growing list of features and the constant support.

Emoticons: See nice smiles in messages by enabling emoticons support. Emoticons can be inserted either using shortcuts or the list.

Custom CSS: Custom CSS styles can be applied for each element of the chat.

Channels statistics: Observe various statistics of channels, including amount of posted messages or users online.

Detailed configuration page: All features can be configured on the settings page (see the screenshots). You can control messages posting, appearance, channels statistics, filters, bans and localization.

Alternatively install it using dedicated widget in Appearance -> Widgets, it’s called Wise Chat Window. See below for details.

Post Installation Notices:

After installation go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Localization tab and translate all the messages into your own language.

Posting pictures from camera / local storage is limited to the specific range of Web browsers. See FAQ for details.

Widget installation:

You can install Wise Chat using dedicated widget. Go to Appearance -> Widgets and add Wise Chat Window widget to the sidebar. In the widget’s settings you can specify:

Channel: It is the name of the channel to open in the chat window. Channel is created on first use.

Shortcode options: It is a space-separated list of options that configures Wise Chat. All shortcode attributes could be used here, type for example theme="colddark" show_users="0" in order to choose Cold Dark theme and disable list of users.

For the full documentation of the shortcode attributes visit the website:

Shortcode installation:

You can install Wise Chat using dedicated shortcode. In basic form it is just:
[wise-chat]
It will open chat window on the default channel called “global”. If you would like to open the chat on custom channel called “My Room” try this:
[wise-chat channel=”My Room”]
The shortcode can be configured with the list of attributes, for example – in order to enable Cold Dark theme and to show list of users you can type:
[wise-chat theme=”colddark” show_users=”1″]

Almost all settings available on plugin’s settings page are also available in shortcode. For full documentation of the shortcode visit the website:

Alternatively install it using dedicated widget in Appearance -> Widgets, it’s called Wise Chat Window. See below for details.

Post Installation Notices:

After installation go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Localization tab and translate all the messages into your own language.

Posting pictures from camera / local storage is limited to the specific range of Web browsers. See FAQ for details.

Widget installation:

You can install Wise Chat using dedicated widget. Go to Appearance -> Widgets and add Wise Chat Window widget to the sidebar. In the widget’s settings you can specify:

Channel: It is the name of the channel to open in the chat window. Channel is created on first use.

Shortcode options: It is a space-separated list of options that configures Wise Chat. All shortcode attributes could be used here, type for example theme="colddark" show_users="0" in order to choose Cold Dark theme and disable list of users.

For the full documentation of the shortcode attributes visit the website:

Shortcode installation:

You can install Wise Chat using dedicated shortcode. In basic form it is just:
[wise-chat]
It will open chat window on the default channel called “global”. If you would like to open the chat on custom channel called “My Room” try this:
[wise-chat channel=”My Room”]
The shortcode can be configured with the list of attributes, for example – in order to enable Cold Dark theme and to show list of users you can type:
[wise-chat theme=”colddark” show_users=”1″]

Almost all settings available on plugin’s settings page are also available in shortcode. For full documentation of the shortcode visit the website:

Place the following short code in your page or post:
[wise-chat channel=”my-channel-name”]
or add this PHP snippet in the theme’s source file:

or put “Wise Chat Window” widget on the desired sidebar and set the desired channel name in Channel field.

The channel will be created during the first usage and it will be added to the list of channels on Wise Chat Settings page in the Channels tab.

How to create a password-protected private channel?

First, create a regular channel (see the previous question) and then go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Channels tab. In the right to the chosen channel click “Password” link and a form will appear below. Specify the password and confirm it by clicking “Set Password” button. From now the channel is secured and only users that enter valid password are allowed to join.

How to convert a password-protected channel into an open channel?

Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Channels tab. In the right to the chosen channel click “Password” link and a form will appear below. Click “Delete Password” button.

Is there a way to show simple statistics of the chat channel in a post or a page?

Yes. Place “wise-chat-channel-stats” shortcode in the page or post. You can choose what to display using “template” attribute. Here is a fully-featured example:
[wise-chat-channel-stats channel=”my-channel” template=”Channel: {channel} Messages: {messages} Users: {users}”]

channel – displays channel’s name

messages – displays the amount of total messages in the channel

users – displays the amount of total active users in the channel

How to install the chat using the widget?

Go to Appearance -> Widgets page, drag and drop “Wise Chat Window” widget on the desired sidebar. The name of the channel can be specified as well.

I can’t see translation for my language. How to localize the chat for end-user?

You can do it by yourself. Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Localization tab and translate texts in each field into your own language. These are all texts that are exposed to end-users.

What about the support for mobile devices and responsiveness?

Wise Chat plugin works on any mobile device that supports Javascript and cookies. The interface is responsive, but you should enable submit button in order an user could send a message. Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Appearance tab and select checkbox “Show Submit Button”.

The chat generates anonymous names for every new user. How to force every user to choose their name on first use?

You can enable a form that appears every time a new user tries to enter the chat. The form displays username field and allows to enter the chat only if the user type his/her name. Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select General tab and select option “Force Username Selection”.

How does the bad words filter work?

The plugin has its own implementation of bad words filtering mechanism. Currently it supports two languages: English and Polish. It is turned on by default. It detects not only simple words but also variations of words like: “H.a.c_ki.n_g” (assuming that “hacking” is a bad word).

How to ban an user?

Log in as an administrator and go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Moderation tab. Enable “Enable Admin Actions” option and go to a page containing the chat. Next to each message there should be a button that allows to ban an user for 1 day.

Alternatively log in as an administrator and type the command:
/ban [UserName] [Duration]
where “UserName” is the chosen user’s name and “Duration” is constructed as follows: 1m (a ban for 1 minute), 7m (a ban for 7 minutes), 1h (a ban for one hour), 2d (a ban for 2 days), etc. Notice: IP addresses are actually blocked.

Log in as an administrator and type the command:
/bans
or go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page and select Bans tab.

How to remove a ban of an user?

Log in as an administrator and type the command:
/unban [IP address]
or go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Bans tab and then delete the desired ban from the list.

How to kick users?

Log in as an administrator and go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Moderation tab. Enable “Enable Admin Actions” option and go to chat page. Next to each message there should be a button for kicking the user who sent the message.

Log in as an administrator, go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Kicks tab and then delete the desired IP address from the list.

How to get some information (e.g. IP address) about an user?

Log in as an administrator and type the command:
/whois [UserName]
where “UserName” is the chosen user’s name.

How to use messages history feature?

Click on the message input field and use arrow keys (up and down) to scroll through the history of recently sent messages.

How to prevent from accessing the chat by anonymous users?

Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select General tab and select “Only regular WP users” in “Access Mode” combo box. From now an user has to be logged in as a regular WordPress user in order to gain access to the chat.

How does auto-ban feature work?

There is a counter for each user. Every time an user types a bad word in a message the counter is increased. If it reaches the threshold (by default set to 3) the user is banned for 1 day (the duration is configurable).

How to delete a single message from the channel?

Log in as an administrator. Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings, select Moderation tab and enable “Enable Admin Actions” option. From now every message in every channel has its own delete button (“X” icon). The button appears only for logged in administrators (or other choosen role). Use the button to delete desired messages.

How to give message deletion permission to certain user roles?

Log in as an administrator. Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings, select Moderation tab and enable “Enable Admin Actions” option. Next, in “Delete Message Permission” field select a role that is allowed to delete messages. From now users belonging to the selected role have permission to delete messages.

Alternatively: add “wise_chat_delete_message” capability to a role you want to have that permission. It could be either standard WordPress role or a custom role.

How does “Enable Images” option actually work?

If you enable “Enable Images” option every link posted in the chat which points to an image will be converted into image. The image will be downloaded into Media Library and then displayed on the chat window. Those downloaded images will be removed from Media Library together with the related chat messages (either when removing all messages or a single one). If an image cannot be downloaded the regular link is displayed instead.

Option “Enable Images” does not work. I see regular hyperlinks instead of images. What is wrong?

The option requires a few prerequisites in order to operate correctly: GD and Curl extensions must be installed, Media Library must operate correctly, posted image link must have a valid extension (jpg, jpeg, gif or png), HTTP status code of the response must be equal 200, image cannot be larger than 3MB (the default limit that can be adjusted in settings). Try to read PHP logs in case of any problems.

What if I would like the images to be opened in a popup layer using Lightbox?

By default all images open using Lightbox 2 library but only if the library is installed within current theme or a dedicated plugin. Without Lightbox 2 each image opens in the new tab / window.

I have installed a plugin containing Lightbox library and newly added messages are not displayed on the Lightbox layer. What is wrong?

If you installed a plugin that incorporates Lightbox library and it still doesn’t work make sure that the plugin uses original Lightbox 2 Javascript library. The chat is compatible only with the original Lightbox 2 library.

You can use filters feature. Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings, select Filters tab and add new filter. From now each occurrence of the phrase will be replaced by the defined text in every message that is posted to any chat channel.

Chat window is showing up but it does not work. I cannot receive or send messages. What is wrong?

Wise Chat plugin is making a lot of long-running HTTP requests. How to improve the performance?

Every 3 seconds the plugin checks for new messages using AJAX request. By default admin-ajax.php is used as a backend script and this script has poor performance. However, it is the most compatible solution. If you want to reduce server load try to change “AJAX Engine” property to “Lightweight AJAX”. It can be set on Settings -> Wise Chat Settings page, select Advanced tab and then select “Lightweight AJAX” from the dropdown list. This option enables dedicated backend script that has a lot better performance.

How to backup messages posted in a channel? I would like to save all messages for offline reading.

Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings, select Channels tab and click “Backup” link next to the desired channel. All messages from the selected channel will be downloaded as a CSV file. You can open it using MS Excel, OpenOffice or any other editor that supports CSV format.

Are old messages being deleted from the chat window?

By default – no, however, you can enable auto-cleaning messages feature. Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings, select Channels tab. In the field “Auto-remove Messages” type number of minutes. Messages older than given amount of minutes will be auto-deleted.

How to limit the amount of users that are allowed to enter a channel?

Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings, select Channels tab. In the field “Users Limit” type number of users that allow to participate in a channel.

How to limit the amount of channels that an user can participate simultaneously?

Go to Settings -> Wise Chat Settings, select Channels tab. In the field “Channels Limit” type number of channels that an user is allowed to participate simultaneously.

How to reset username prefix (a number that is added to anonymous users name) anonymous users?

When I upload an animated GIF the thumbnail is not animated. What is wrong?

WordPress has no support for resizing animated GIFs.

Why I can change background color of the chat window but I cannot change background color of the input field, buttons or borders?

It is impossible to provide options to customize every aspect of user interface. Please use CSS styles to adjust styles to your needs.

I have uploaded a picture with incorrect orientation and the plugin did not corrected it. What is wrong?

Plugin detects EXIF data in images. If an image doesn’t have this data then nothing will happen. If EXIF data indicates that the orientation is correct then also nothing will happen.

I am experiencing errors like “Fatal error: Call to undefined function openssl_pkey_get_public() (…)”. What is wrong?

Make sure that openssl extension for your PHP installation is loaded and works correctly. In most cases theses errors are caused by missing openssl module.

How to send messages using just keyboard in multiline mode?

After you type a message use the key combination: Shift + ENTER

How to display a list of online users in the sidebar?

Just use Wise Chat Channel Users widget. It displays a block containing list of online users for given channel. Go to Appearance -> Widgets and add Wise Chat Channel Users widget to the sidebar. You can additionally set:

title – a title for the block (it may be empty)

channel – a name of the channel (empty value means the deafult channel is used)

options – use here the syntax and list of attributes of [wise-chat] shortcode

Reviews

We’ve been using Wise Chat Pro on http://buzznbeat.com for over a year. I rarely write reviews but now I’ve started having a feeling of injustice if I do not share my experience with the WordPress Community. (Pardon me for publishing the site URL but let me assure you that it’s there not for self-advertising but to show the readers that it’s a genuine review and not a fake entry.)

Before we started using Wise Chat I researched a lot and paid $125 for [name intentionally omitted] chat plugin. Plugin’s specs and author’s claims were enticing but this plugin turned out to be a nightmare. Claims of BuddyPress integration were totally false. Answering a support question the author told that we would need to hire a developer to integrate the plugin with BuddyPress Groups and Friends. We had to get rid of this plugin in frustration.

After a lot of fresh research we decided to try Wise Chat and we paid for the Pro version to get access to all the features. We were blessed to have found this plugin. We’ve rarely found a plugin working so smoothly and flawlessly.

It’s an enterprise level chat software with extreme customization potential and very straightforward administration panel. A whole lot of advance features, easy setup and the least learning curve make it an ideal solution for beginners and experts alike.

WordPress currently runs about 27% of the whole internet; therefore, development of plugins makes a great business. However, I honestly believe that plugins like Wise Chat are more a service to the WordPress Community than a business. I encourage all users to patronize this plugin by subscribing to the Pro version. Let’s help great developers contribute even more to the WordPress Ecosystem.

We’re using this chat on our community website and it’s the best Chat plugin in the entire universe. Our chat window has become as very important to our readers as it is for us. It’s nice, clean and just perfect. I definitely recommend it!

This is a neat plugin and all and seems to work well enough, except its script executes CONSTANTLY. Use sparingly on your site if in a cheap shared hosting environment like Siteground, this plugin had almost 100,000 executions by itself and shut my whole site off for exceeding daily CPU usage allotment by 9am.

Really nice, the free version has no all iflychat free version options but wise chat like iflychat is one of the best chat plugins, i use wise chat for my buddypress. the logged in and anonymous user can chat in sidebar!

I purchased the pro version and used it for a couple of month, but the hosting had to deactivate my site because of this plugin.
“Too many endpoints” it overloaded the site. The only way I could get my site back up and running was deleting this plugin.